GLOSSARY OF LEGAL TERMS STARTING WITH F face amount n. the original amount due on a promissory note or insurance policy as stated therein, without calculating interest. face value n. in shares of stock, the original cost of the stock shown on the certificate, or par value. fact n. an actual thing or happening, which must be proved at trial by presentation of evidence and which is evaluated by the finder of fact (a jury in a jury trial, or by the judge if he/she sits without a jury). fact finder (finder of fact) n. in a trial of a lawsuit or criminal prosecution, the jury or judge (if there is no jury) who decides if facts have been proven. Occasionally a judge may appoint a special master to investigate and report on the existence of certain facts. factor n. 1) a salesman who sells in his/her own name on behalf of others, taking a commission for services. 2) something that contributes to the result. failure of consideration n. not delivering goods or services when promised in a contract. When goods a party had bargained for have become damaged or worthless, failure of consideration (to deliver promised goods) makes the expectant recipient justified to withhold payment, demand performance or take legal action. failure of issue n. when someone dies leaving no children or other direct descendants. fair comment n. a statement of opinion (no matter how ludicrous) based on facts which are correctly stated and which does not allege dishonorable motives on the part of the target of the comment. fair market value n. the amount for which property would sell on the open market if put up for sale. This is distinguished from replacement value, which is the cost of duplicating the property. Real estate appraisers will use comparable sales of similar property in the area to determine market value, adding or deducting amounts based on differences in quality and size of the property. fair use n. the non-competitive right to use of copyrighted material without giving the author the right to compensation or to sue for infringement of copyright. With the growing use of copy machines, teachers and businesses copy articles, pages of texts, charts and excerpts for classroom use, advice to employees or to assist in research without violating the copyright. false arrest n. physically detaining someone without the legal right to do so. Quite often this involves private security people or other owners or employees of retail establishments who hold someone without having seen a crime committed in their presence or pretend that they are police officers. While they may be entitled to make a citizens arrest they had better be sure that they have a person who has committed a crime, and they must call law enforcement officers to take over at the first opportunity. Other common false arrest situations include an arrest by a police officer of the wrong person or without probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and/or without a warrant. Only when the arresting party knowingly holds someone who has not committed a crime, is the false arrest itself a crime. However, probable false arrest can be the basis of a lawsuit for damages, including mental distress and embarrassment. false imprisonment n. depriving someone of freedom of movement by holding a person in a confined space or by physical restraint including being locked in a car, driven about without opportunity to get out, being tied to a chair or locked in a closet. It may be the follow-up to a false arrest (holding someone in the office of a department store, for example), but more often it resembles a kidnapping with no belief or claim of a legal right to hold the person. Therefore, false imprisonment is often a crime and if proved is almost always the basis of a lawsuit for damages. false pretenses n. the crime of knowingly making untrue statements for the purpose of obtaining money or property fraudulently. This can range from claiming zircons are diamonds and turning back the odometer on a car, to falsely stating that a mine has been producing gold when it has not. It is one form of theft. family n. 1) husband, wife and children. 2) all blood relations. 3) all who live in the same household including servants and relatives, with some person or persons directing this economic and social unit. family purpose doctrine n. a rule of law that the registered owner of an automobile is responsible for damages to anyone injured when the auto is driven by a member of the family with or without the owners permission. The theory of this liability is that the vehicle is owned for family purposes. fee n. 1) absolute title in land, from old French, fief, for payment, since lands were originally given by lords to those who served them. The word fee can be modified to show that the title was conditional on some occurrence or could be terminated (determinable) upon a future event. 2) a charge for services fee simple n. absolute title to land, free of any other claims against the title, which one can sell or pass to another by will or inheritance. This is a redundant form of fee, but is used to show the fee (absolute title) is not a conditional fee, or determinable fee, or fee tail. fee tail n. an old feudal expression for a title to real property which can only be passed to ones heirs of his body or certain heirs who are blood relatives. If the blood line ran out (no children) then the title would revert to the descendants of the lord who originally gave the land to the title-holding family. Thus, it could not be transferred to anyone outside the family. The intention was to keep lands within a family line and not subdivided. In 16th century England, trusts were established to get around this restraint on alienation so the land could be held in trust for another person to use. Fee tail is of historic and academic interest only. felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in prison. felonious adj. referring to an act done with criminal intent. The term is used to distinguish between a wrong which was not malicious, and an intentional crime, as in felonious assault, which is an attack meant to do real harm. felony n. 1) a crime sufficiently serious to be punishable by death or a term in prison, as distinguished from a misdemeanor which is only punishable by confinement to local jail and/or a fine.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 08:33:04 +0000
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